JAMES SANFORD ELLSWORTH 


er) 


Oh ose 
eo 


dOWHLNIAA SQINY ‘SYP INV ‘YAL “Z ANV I ‘SON 


FX 
45 


enna 
Ypetaren ~ 
¥ 


JAMES SANFORD ELLSWORTH 
A NEW ENGLAND MINIATURE PAINTER 


By 


FREDERIC FAIRCHILD SHERMAN 


NEW YORK 
PRIVATELY PRINTED 
MCMXXxVI 


k> 


S|>34 


WN with curr Lega 


JAMES SANFORD ELLSWORTH 
1802-1873 


James Sanrorp Exisworrtn, the Connecticut 
miniature painter, son of John Ellsworth, one of 
the officers in charge of the State House for many 
years, was born in Windsor early in 1802. He first 
displayed a taste for art by making several copies 
in oils of one of Gilbert Stuart’s full-length por- 
traits of Washington, one of which is still pre- 
served in the Wadsworth Athenaeum at Hartford. 
He lived for a number of years in Hartford on 
Trumbull Street, and married Mary Ann Driggs 
of that city, May 23, 1830. He was an eccentric 
young man and kept himself generally aloof from 
society, his chief diversion being the reading and 
study of Shakespeare’s plays. His marriage 
proved unhappy and soon thereafter, possibly in 
a year or two, he departed from Hartford without 
warning for the West. ‘There he appeared first in 
Saint Louis where he painted a picture called “A 
Wounded Grecian Racer,” which created much 
comment. It was regarded by artists as “a wild 
conception, good in color, fine in drawing and alto- 
gether praiseworthy.” Mr. H. W. French in his 
“Art and Artists of Connecticut” says that too 
much Shakespeare and his unhappy marriage had 
made him mad before he departed unceremonious- 
ly from his home. This, I think, is very doubtful, 
if not exactly untrue. The facts of the case are 
that the best of his miniatures were probably all 


done subsequently — after 1835. They could 
hardly have been painted by any other than a sane 
and very competent portrait draughtsman. He 
returned to Connecticut sometime between 1835 
and 1840. Mr. French adds that “he reappeared 
in the role of a weather-beaten wanderer, followed 
by an old dog, which he said, was his only friend 
on earth.” However, he continued to paint his 
quaint and charming portrait miniatures in towns 
widely separated about the state and in Berkshire 
and Hampden Counties, Massachusetts, for many 
years thereafter. I venture the surmise that he 
had hardly the appearance of a demented tramp, 
as French suggests, though there may be some 
truth in his story of the artist stopping at a farm- 
house near Hartford and offering to paint the 
family in exchange for food and old clothes. In 
his old age Ellsworth moved finally to Pittsburg, 
Pennsylvania, where he died in an almshouse in 
1873 or 1874. 


II 


The earliest of Ellsworth’s miniatures known to 
me are those of Mr. and Mrs. Rufus Winthrop 
and their three children (Figs. 1, 2, 3 and 4) which 
were painted, if I am not mistaken, in the early 
“twenties,” before he went West. All but that of 
the little boy (a unique example in full-face not 
reproduced here) reveal certain peculiarities that 
became characteristic of his style, notably the stiff, 
erect attitude noticeable in all his miniatures and 
the custom of painting his sitters in profile, which 


‘VY aNV £ ‘SON 


dOUHLNIA\ SASSIJAY FHT, 


No. 6. UwnipentiFiep ELperty Lapy 


LENS 


No. 7.. Mrs. Jennie Post 


‘6 GNV 8 ‘SON 


‘SUA, INV A 


WADAVIN] 


he adhered to practically without exception to the 
end of his life. It would seem that he must have 
had some definite reason for believing, from the 
opinions expressed by early patrons that he had a 
particular gift for profile drawing, and that he 
therefore based his portraiture permanently on this 
manner of representation, which had first found 
favor with others. It is also very probable that 
the beginnings of his art had to do with the cutting 
of silhouettes in his boyhood and early youth. 

The likeness of Mrs. Enfield Johnston (Fig. 5), 
who was the first white woman married in the 
State of Kentucky, is the next in chronological 
sequence of his works known to me, as it is also 
the only miniature from his hand on ivory that 
I have ever seen. It must have been painted in 
the early “thirties” and proves very conclusively 
that while he was in the West he travelled about 
considerably in the pursuit of his art, just as he 
did later in the East, for this miniature was painted 
in Louisville, Kentucky, at that period a consid- 
erable journey from Saint Louis. 

It was immediately after his return from the 
West to his native state that the best of his min- 
iatures were produced. He had improved im- 
mensely and the improvement is noted especially 
in the modelling in the faces and adds a new inter- 
est to his portraiture during the next few years. 
His drawing also is more assured and meticulous 
in its attention to minute detail, as noticeable in 
the lace caps and collars of his women. He is also 
freer and surer in his use of color as evidenced in 


the flesh tones and in the dress of his sitters. 
Browns, a rich blue and yellow and other hues. 
appear. 

The miniatures of Mrs. Jennie, Post of Guilford, 
Conn. (Fig. 7), and that of the unknown elderly 
lady (Fig. 6) are of this period, and probably date 
from about 1835. They are the finest of his min- 
iatures that I have encountered. 

After 1840 he invented an altogether personal 
style of representation, in which the sitter is shown 
seated in a chair, the individual characteristics of 
which are found in the quaint but ugly Victorian 
chairs and a conventional, cloud-like background 
for the heads, shaped like a clover leaf. It is a 
curious but engaging and entirely unique scheme 
for portrait miniatures. The examples of this type 
include the Marcums (Fig. 8 and 9) of Litchfield, 
Conn., painted in New Boston, Mass., and those 
of the unidentified couple (Figs. 10 and 11). The 
latter are both signed and dated “March 12th 
1852,” which leads me to believe that all of his 
miniatures of this type date from about 1840 to. 
1860. If further proof of this were necessary it is 
to be found in an examination of the Treat and 
Baird-Rudd likenesses, numbers 16 to 1g inclusive, 
of the list printed herewith. The Baird-Rudd min- 
iatures are perhaps the finest of this period, and 
the Miss Nye (No. 20 of the list) is certainly the 
quaintest and most intriguing —a little girl of 
twelve or thirteen holding a bouquet of flowers. 
The drawing and modelling of these late minia- 
tures, painted after the artist was forty, is as fine 


as in those of his best period, ten or fifteen years 
earlier. 


III 


If I am not mistaken Ellsworth was entirely 
self-taught, his art an outgrowth of an early apti- 
tude in the cutting of silhouettes. While he was 
certainly not a great miniaturist in any sense, his 
work was unique in its individuality. Histori- 
cally it preserves in a remarkable degree the spirit 
of its time — prim New England women with their 
quaint and lovely lace collars and caps, men in 
their “Sunday” black, with black stocks and the 
curious and ugly Victorian furniture. Little things 
like the wart below Mr. Marcum’s ear (Fig. 9) 
are evidence that the artist was very literal and 
painstaking in his portraiture, and something of a 
“realist.” 


MINIATURES 
BY JAMES SANFORD ELLSWORTH 


1&2 Mr. anp Mrs. Rurus WintHrop. On thin paper. 
Each about 4% inches high by 3% inches wide. 
Private Collection, South Glastonbury, Conn. 


3 & 4 THe Misses Winruror. On thin paper. Each about 
4% inches high by 3% inches wide. 


Private Collection, South Glastonbury, Conn. 


s Master WintHrop. On thin paper. 4 inches high 
by 334 inches wide. (Painted full-face). 
Private Collection, South Glastonbury, Conn. 
The Winthrops were residents of Southington or Ston- 
ington, Connecticut. These miniatures were pub- 
lished January, 1925, in “Antiques.” 


6 Mrs. Enrietp Jounsron. Irregular ivory panel. 3% 
inches high by 254 inches wide. Mrs. Johnston was a 
resident of Louisville, Kentucky, where this miniature 
was painted. Private Collection, New York City 


7 Mrs. Jennie Post. On thin paper. 2% inches high 
by 2 inches wide. Inscribed on the back “Painted by 
J. S. Ellsworth.” Mrs. Post was a resident of Guil- 
ford, Connecticut, where this miniature was found. 

Private Collection, New York City 


8 UniwenTiFIED E_perty Lapy. Oval. On thin paper. 
25% inches high by 2% inches wide. ; 
Private Collection, New York City 


9 & 10 Mr. anp Mrs. Marcum. On thin paper. The former, 
33% inches high by 3 inches wide; the latter, 3% 
inches high by 27 inches wide. An inscription on the 
board at the back of the latter reads, “J. S. Ellsworth, 
Painter, Westfield.” (Hampden County, Massachu- 

Private Collection, Westport, Conn. 


Nos. 10 AND 11. UNIDENTIFIED GENTLEMAN AND His WIFE 


11 & 12 UnwenTiFiep GENTLEMAN AND His Wire. On thin 
paper. Each 2% inches high by 2% inches wide. 

Signed and dated on the back “J. S. Ellsworth, Paint- 

er, March 12th 1852.” Found in New London, Conn. 
Private Collection, Westport, Conn. 


13 Unwentiriep Lapy. On thin paper. About 3% 
inches high by 234 inches wide. 
Private Collection, She field, Mass. 


14 Lucinpa Witson Busunety. (Died March 23, 1861. 
Aged 86). On thin paper. About 3% inches high by 
3 inches wide. Private Collection, Sheffield, Mass. 


15 Mrs. Ertswortu. (Sister of Lucinda Wilson Bush- 
nell). On thin paper. About 3% inches high by 3 
inches wide. Private Collection, Sheffield, Mass. 


16 Erren H. Treat. (Cousin of James A. Bushnell. 
Died October 7, 1869. Aged 33). On thin paper. 
About 3% inches high by 3 inches wide. Probably 
painted about 1854. Private Collection, She field, Mass. 


17 Marcia Treat. (Sister of Ellen H. Treat. Died 
February 28, 1851. Aged 20). On thin paper. About 
3% inches high by 3 inches wide. Painted about 
1850. Private Collection, She field, Mass. 


18 Dezsorau Barry. (Born February 9, 1804. Married 
Ebenezer Rudd of Becket, Massachusetts, her home). 
On thin paper. 31% inches high by 234 inches wide. 
Painted about 1850. Private Collection, Lee, Mass. 


19 Esenezer Rupp. (Husband of Deborah Baird. Born 
February 22, 1805. Died Becket, Massachusetts, 
March 31, 1892). On thin paper. 348 inches high by 
234 inches wide. Private Gulch Lee, Ata 


20 Miss Nye. On thin paper. 33% inches high by 2% 
inches wide. Pictured as a child of twelve or thirteen 
years. Private Collection, Lee, Mass. 


ais 


‘ 
‘ 


Roe 
= 


Paste 


ee a 


__ ONE HUNDRED COPIES PRIVATELY oe 


ogee 


_—s PRINTED DURING APRIL - MCMXXVI 


' 
i 
i 
4 
* 
X ie 
Re 
‘ 
‘i 
- 
ay 
is 
ih 
‘ 
. 
. 
f 
* ~ 
foe f 
i jf as 
Wal /-4 
}" > : 
FA ct 
aay ies 
ad 
re 
’ a oP 
ay : 


GETTY CENTER LIBRARY 


Hs A 


